Skiing and Waiting – Enjoying the Downtime

Skiing is my favourite thing to do in life. The conditions don’t matter. Icy, corn, groomed, crud, chop, waist deep, over-the-head pow…all of it is fun. Few things compare to the absolute bliss of being outside and sliding along the snow on two skis. But one thing fairly unique to skiing is the waiting. Waiting? Yep. Any skier out there will tell you how much time we spend waiting. Waiting in line for a ticket, waiting for the lifts to open, waiting in the liftline, riding the chair, riding the gondola, waiting for your friend to make it up the boot back, waiting for the high alpine lifts to open, waiting for winter, waiting for the next storm. Waiting for your ski date (the worst kind of waiting). But the waiting time is important time.

I love the wait. I love the fact that skiing has an enforced period of downtime on every lap. That downtime is needed. On a powder day, the downtime on the chair or if you’re lucky, in a helicopter, is that time to take it all in and give your brain, your emotions and your skier’s soul time to take it all in and soak up the absolute enjoyment if shredding deep, untracked snow. Even on non-powder days, during the dog days of mid winter, the waiting time is needed. Those moments, when the season has settled in, the crowds aren’t insane and I spend every moment away from work on the hill, I cherish that time downtime I have on every day I ski. It doesn’t matter the conditions. On those regular winter days, I am just skiing the hill, often on my own. Those are the times when I really enjoy that waiting. Riding the chair, waiting for the lifts to crack, all of that waiting time presents me with a period of forced contemplation.

Riding the chairlift…

When I think of how much time I have spent on the chairlift, thinking about everything under the sun, sometimes in rapt discussion with another lost ski soul, a buddy or just another tourist, I smile. It’s not wasted time. It’s reflection time. Sure, some of those times can be annoying. Lift lines, for instance, can be a bit of a drag. But sometimes they can be magical. Think of the feeling when you throw your skis down in the line while it’s still dark out and head over to the lodge to get a morning cup of joe, knowing you will be one of the first up the hill. Or being in one of the high alpine lift lines, waiting for ski patrol to give the go ahead on a powder day. I have had some of my most enjoyable moments in those lift lines. Snowball fights among locals, huge, spirited discussions about where best to ski, arguments about who was first in line, or just a little silent contemplation of the gift all of us are going to receive when we get off the lift and ski away.

The waiting aspect of skiing is as blissful and important as the skiing part. We need that downtime. When I was a kid I used to imagine a never ending ski run that would go on for years, where every day you would get up and ski down, all day. No waiting. Now, I see how that would make things just a little less sweeter. I relish that down time. Even on a powder day, where the manic, snow-crazed, ski addict is in firm control, the down time is important. It’s a time to relax, catch up and take a moment to just be where you are, be present and see that if you’re skiing, life is pretty good.

Be safe, ski hard.